SCT boys preview

Who: No. 2 Bridgewater-Raritan (14-0) vs. No. 1 Pingry (14-0)Where/When: 3 p.m. today at Bridgewater-Raritan High School
How they got here: Pingry beat No. 9 Hillsborough 3-0 and No. 4 Bernards 4-1; Bridgewater-Raritan beat No. 7 Ridge 4-2 and No. 6 North Plainfield 3-0.The History: Bridgewater-Raritan and Pingry tied 1-1 for the championship last season. The twoteams were supposed to play twice this year, once for the Skyland Conference Delaware title and a second game to fill out their schedules. Both games were rained out. A make-up game for lastThursday was also postponed.PINGRY
Coach: Miller Bugliari, 51st seasonThe starters: Eric Schoenbach (Sr., for), Mael Corboz (Jr., mid), Cameron Kirdzik (Jr., mid), Adam Jacobs (Sr., mid), Freddy Elliot (Sr., mid) Randy Falk (Sr., mid), Matt Sheeleigh (Sr., def),Andrew Young (Sr., def), Dylan Key (Jr., gk).Outlook: Strong defense, clutch scoring and a lot of skill have helped Pingry become one of themost successful boys soccer programs over the past decade. Expect to see much of the same today. The Big Blue are used to big games and tough crowds. They rarely lose composure. Key split time in goal last year and takes over as the main keeper this year. Sheeleigh returns to lead an otherwise young defense. The Big Blue have handful of players that can score.

BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN
Coach: Rick Szeles, 14th seasonThe starters: Mike Horan (Sr., def), Tom Miller (Sr., def), Chris Scott (Sr., def), Chris Hall
(Sr., def), Ryan Doheny (Sr., def), Tom Vogel (Sr., def), Derek Luke (Sr., mid), Sal Vitello (Jr.,mid), Dave Monahan (Jr., mid), Eli Adams (Jr., mid), Andrew Wilkinson (Sr., for), Oscar Marin(Sr., for), Ryan Thomas (Sr., mid), Kannov Kapoor (Sr., mid), Alex Kaminetzky (Jr., gk).Outlook: The Panthers are hard to scout. They’ve successfully rotated three keepers and send ahandful of players to goal. Keeper Travis Ives’ graduation was the only key loss for the Panthers, who had an average season last year outside of the SCT run. Having the returning players gain last year’s experience has become invaluable and led to one of the most successful regular season’s inprogram history.On Pingry: “”Pingry is a very well-coached, talented team,” Szeles said. “”They have had a great season. Their players are skilled and read the game very well. It should be an exciting game.”

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

Comments

About Melissa Chodan

Melissa Chodan, a graduate of Elizabeth High School and Kean University, has been with the Courier News since November 2005. Melissa covers boys soccer, swimming and lacrosse for the paper.

About this Blog

The inside story on high school soccer

About the Author

Andrew ConstantAndrew Constant is in his second year with New Jersey Press Media, after joining in Sept. 2012. He is a graduate of South Brunswick High School ('08) and Towson University ('12). At Towson, he was the Sports Editor of The Towerlight, the university's student newspaper.E-mail Andrew

Mike BeckerMike Becker is a graduate of Rutgers University. He has been working at the Home News Tribune since the spring of 2011. During his time at Rutgers, he covered the school's football, and both the men's and women's basketball teams, for WRSU-FM.E-mail Mike

Simeon PincusA graduate of Kean University, Simeon Pincus has been covering NJ sports since 1997, including softball at the Courier News since 1999 and girls soccer since 2001. He began covering CN girls basketball in 2013-14E-mail Simeon